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Buisness Model?
Archived Post
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Is there any word on the type of buisness model Cryptic is leaning towards?
With Atari no longer butting their heads in (hopefully) I hope that a P2P model will not be an option or even considered. Because honesty I don't see how this will warrent a P2P model and truely hope that Cryptic follows more of a B2P model like ANet does and for the love of god not the MT galore like Turbine does. My impression is content will not be solely put on Cryptic but also on the palyers, which from NWN the palyers did more than that developers. This game seems like it'll more provide the players the tools to create their own content while giving a basis of a storyline in Cryptic's content.
If it follows a B2P model then would the community want Foundry features seperate purchase or be inclusive in expansions.. packagaes... editions... whatever you would call new content.
With Atari no longer butting their heads in (hopefully) I hope that a P2P model will not be an option or even considered. Because honesty I don't see how this will warrent a P2P model and truely hope that Cryptic follows more of a B2P model like ANet does and for the love of god not the MT galore like Turbine does. My impression is content will not be solely put on Cryptic but also on the palyers, which from NWN the palyers did more than that developers. This game seems like it'll more provide the players the tools to create their own content while giving a basis of a storyline in Cryptic's content.
If it follows a B2P model then would the community want Foundry features seperate purchase or be inclusive in expansions.. packagaes... editions... whatever you would call new content.
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I don't think is entirely the truth. Think it more as a self contained game where developers offer the tools for the players, and possibility to integrate their content to the world. It's a mutually beneficial situation because player generated content is likely to extend longevity of the game.
I think we also need to define content here. It's unlikely players are creating new assets like they were in NWN. It's more likely that Cryptic provides new game assets for content creators either through expansions or as separately sold packages, or both, as is likely to be the case. Players in turn use these assets to create their own adventures aka content.
I'd be most happy with B2P model with store that sells assets for creators, and expansion items (i.e. races and classes) for all. All in all, I predict we are likely to get a steady supply of packages with a few larger expansions.
Atari still has the D&D rights, I think they must be the publisher for this, or it can't ship.
I think they are still open to ideas on the business model.
- Bar
I have a problem with (monthly) pay to play, after you have bought the game. It's why I play NWN1 and 2, and not the MMO's that are out there.
This is because my income and playhours are very erratic, while a monthly subsciption thinks I play dayly.
NWN (and it's community who this game is supposed to be aimed for) is predominantly a Singleplayer game, and has always been free of Pay-to play business models.
I hope just B2P, but fear the worst (P2P)
What I'm more concerned about is continued support. It's notable that before selling Cryptic the game was in internal development. Now after they sold Cryptic the games is basically handled by a 3rd party developer. Not that there is anything out of ordinary with it.
However what happens after the game is released is of great interest to me. It looks like Atari is switching their focus to "emerging game platforms" so here's hoping they don't drop the support for the game as soon as it's out. Essentially there's a danger they treat it as a standard single player release.
It doesn't help that by selling Cryptic Atari basically confirmed they are leaving the MMO world behind. Additional worry is that Cryptic is not in position of a standard 3rd party developer. Perfect World owns them, so it's not like they can broker their own deals.
Just putting the box on the shelf and saying, "There it is! Buy it!" only works if the prospect of the game coming out is generating a lot of hype. In this case, it doesn't seem to be.
Let's face it. The game's got a lot of hurdles to get over.
"Eww! Cryptic?!"
"Eww! Atari?!"
"Eww! 4e!?"
"Eww! No persistent world building?!"
And so on.
(As an aside: Personally I love Cryptic, I think their games are fantastic, but they do have a past and that past has put a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of gamers. "Don't **** off the Star Trek Nerds!" That's like Rule 1 on the internet. Didn't they get that memo?)
To say nothing about the fact that we're still in this recession and people need ot be picky about what they spend their money on. This game's best chance at success is, in my opinion, the increasingly popular F2P/P2P Hybrid model.
No, really. I'm being serious. Make the initial download free. Then, let the players decide how they'll lay out their coin. Either with an All Features Unlock monthly payment, or a cash shop where they can pick and choose what they want their nickles and dimes to pay for.
I think B2P would work great with Neverwinter simple because they can release classes, spells/feats, specializations which I guess that replaces PrC, new areas. Just like DnD editions, monsterbooks, campaigns.
If they went with a P2P model then I'm sorry but I will not be intrested at all besides just a month or two just to check out the game. B2P is a perfectly sound model...just look at GW's massive success. The thing is putting out content fast enough which for most MMO's that is what kills em or contributes significantly to it. Hybrid model...like Turbine does?
Personally I see P2P as a standard of WoW, SWTOR, or Rift(hesitantly though putting Rift in this category) kind of MMOs . There is raids, crafting, PvP, ect ect. While we know practically nothing about Neverwinter so far so all we can do is speculate. However if they do go with a P2P model then they will most likely lose a whole lot customers as people might just stick with their NWN servers or say "screw that I'm sticking with my AAA established MMO."
Yes, Hybrid model. Like Turbine does. Like Cryptic already does with Champions Online.
Why, you ask? Because it *works*. Players get to come in without buying anything up front. They can play as much as they want without spending one dime. Then, once they've decided that they like it, they can then spend some money in the cash shop for whatever they want. Or, if they *really* like it and believe in it, they can pay the monthly fee.
It worked wonders for Turbine. DDO and LotRO, not to mention Champions, all came back from the brink in a big way with it.
That business model is in fact so genius that I highly suspect it will become the new standard for MMOs in general. Neverwinter could do a lot worse than to go with that method.